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This case highlights the history of Arthur Andersen and the collapse of the firm following the Enron Corp. audit and the Department of Justice obstruction of justice conviction.

The difference between the Financial Accounting Standards Board's Concept Statements #5 and #6 is explored as it pertains to revenue recognition and expense recognition.

This case presents a summary of the Financial Accounting Standards Board's Concept Statements #5 and #6.

Spreadsheet Supplement for case 103061.

Bankinter, a relatively small Spanish bank, has a large presence as an Internet financial services provider. Leading the way to profitability through the Internet will give Bankinter a major competitive advantage over the larger, more established Spanish banks. Ann Peralta, director of the Internet network in Bankinter, must evaluate whether the thousands of new customers pouring in from other portals are profitable for the bank. Peralta uses tools such as customer relationship management, activity-based costing, customer profitability, and lifetime value computations to determine the value of this cohort of new customers for the bank and in doing so, can decide on future customer acquisition strategies.

Illustrates how nonfinancial performance measures can be used to manage a business and evaluate the success of a strategy.

Spreadsheet supplement for case 103058.

A potential investor in General Motors is gathering information about investment in General Motor's stock. The investigation leads the investor to review the General Motor's Web site and several CNBC interviews of General Motors' executives.

A potential investor in General Motor's stock reviews the retiree benefit note data included in the company's 2001 financial statements as part of the investment analysis of the company.

Budgeting, as most corporations practice it, should be abolished. Most other building blocks are in place, but companies continue to restrict themselves by relying on inflexible budget processes and the command-and-control culture that budgeting entails. A number of companies have rejected the foregone conclusions embedded in budgets, and they've given up the self-interested wrangling over what the data indicate. In the absence of budgets, alternative goals and measures--some financial, such as cost-to-income ratios, and some nonfinancial, such as time to market--move to the foreground. Companies that have rejected budgets require employees to measure themselves against the performance of competitors and against internal peer groups. Because employees don't know whether they've succeeded until they can look back on the results of a given period, they must use every ounce of energy to ensure that they beat the competition. A key feature of many companies that have rejected budgets is the use of rolling forecasts, which are created every few months and typically cover five to eight quarters. Because the forecasts are regularly revised, they allow companies to adapt continuously to market conditions. The forecasting practices of two such companies, both based in Sweden, are examined in detail: the bank Svenska Handelsbanken and the wholesaler Ahlsell.

Examines DoubleClick's capital structure from IPO. Discusses additional offering of common stock, stock splits, dividends, sale of convertible debt, repurchase of convertible debt, and repurchase of common stock.

Spreadsheet Supplement for case 103016.

Daniel Fisher, the CFO of Boston Automation Systems, must review a number of revenue transaction accounting policies following the issuance of the Securities and Exchange Commission's Staff Accounting Bulletin 101, "Revenue Recognition in Financial Statements." Teaching Purpose: To explore the earned and realized criteria for recognition of revenue.

Supplements the (A) case.

Students must evaluate the Financial Accounting Standards Board/International Accounting Standards Board's tentative decisions on comprehensive income statements.

Supplements the (A) case.

Global Bubbles Incorporated is a worldwide manufacturer of chewing gum. The vice-president of manufacturing must evaluate various global capacity rationalization plans to determine the strategic direction the company should take. Her goal was to determine the optimal manufacturing strategy for the various markets supplied by Global Bubbles. She must analyse multi-currency net present value calculations, discount rates, exchange rates and the role of strategic options associated with multiple sourcing locations.

The president of Try Recycling & Aggregates, a company which recycled materials not acceptable at garbage landfill sites, has to decide whether the company should sell its products through a new fundraising initiative - the Grow Green Program. This program would involve approaching organizations taking part in fundraising activities to determine if they would be interested in selling the company's gardening products in order to raise funds for their organizations. He had determined which products would be sold, but must determine which fundraising organizations to target and how to promote his idea.

The use of stock options for executive compensation has become a lightning rod for public anger, and it's easy to see why. Many top executives grew hugely rich on the back of the gains they made on their options--profits they've been able to keep even as the value they were supposed to create disappeared. The supposed scam works like this: Current accounting regulations let companies ignore the cost of option grants on their income statements, so they can award valuable option packages without affecting reported earnings. Not charging the cost of the grants supposedly leads to overstated earnings, which purportedly translate into unrealistically high share prices, permitting top executives to realize big gains when they exercise their options. If an accounting anomaly is the problem, then the solution seems obvious: Write off executive share options against the current year's revenues. The trouble is, Sahlman writes, expensing option grants won't give us a more accurate view of earnings, won't add any information not already included in the financial statements, and won't even lead to equal treatment of different forms of executive pay. Far worse, expensing evades the real issue, which is whether compensation (options and otherwise) does what it's supposed to do--namely, help a company recruit, retain, and provide the right people with appropriate performance incentives. Only ethical management, sensible governance, adequate internal control systems, and comprehensive disclosure will save the investor from disaster.

Cloverdale Paint Inc. is a family-owned paint manufacturer. Company sales have been falling and the logistics manager was looking at several options that would meet the company's long-term growth objectives. Two opportunities - private label development or dealer network expansion - seemed promising. He must determine if one or both alternatives will resolve the company's declining sales, and if so, whether the company has enough capital to pursue one or both ventures.